Mickey van der Hart (born 13 June 1994) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for club

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

Club career

Ajax

Acquired into the

Ajax Youth Academy The Ajax Youth Academy (Dutch: ''Ajax Jeugdopleiding'') is a football youth academy based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from where the organization manages a total of 13 youth teams (ages 7–18). The academy is the primary youth clinic of Dutch foo ...

from local amateur side

Amsterdamsche FC Amsterdamsche Football Club, commonly known as AFC is a association football, football club based in Amsterdam. The team compete in the Tweede Divisie, the third level of the Dutch football league system. History 19th century: Foundation AFC ...

in 2007, Van der Hart worked his way up the youth ranks, and had an outstanding 2011–12 season with the Ajax A1 youth squad. That year, the under-20 team where he was first-choice keeper at the time, had won the national title (Nike Eredivisie), as well as finished as runners-up in that season's NextGen Series (''the Champions League equivalent for youth teams'') when they lost to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

on penalties. Van der Hart was awarded his first professional contract when he was pronounced as the first team's third-choice goalkeeper, as well as receiving the award for Talent van De Toekomst (''Talent of the Future''). His first contract was a three-year deal, binding him to the club until June 2015. The 2012–13 season was Van der Hart's first with the Ajax first team since the departure of former third keeper Jeroen Verhoeven, however with then first- and second-choice keepers

Kenneth Vermeer Kenneth Harold Vermeer (born 10 January 1986) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Eredivisie club PEC Zwolle. After graduating from the Ajax Youth Academy, Vermeer played for Jong Ajax, Willem II on loan, and the ...

and

Jasper Cillessen Jacobus Antonius Peter Johannes "Jasper" Cillessen (born 22 April 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Las Palmas. Cillessen joined NEC's youth team in 2001, making his professional debut for them in 2010 ...

each having an injury-free season, Van der Hart was unable to make his debut for the first team, meanwhile still playing in the Ajax A1 youth squad, where he was still eligible to participate due to his young age. On 8 April 2013, an opportunity presented itself for Van der Hart to appear as second choice keeper behind Jasper Cillessen, following a red card suspension to Kenneth Vermeer. That void would however be filled by Chiel Kramer, first keeper of the reserves team

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

, since Van der Hart was sidelined due to a groin injury at the time. Ajax would eventually go on to win the national title in what would be Van der Hart's first season as a professional. The 2013–14 season saw Van der Hart maintain his position as

Frank de Boer Franciscus de Boer (; born 15 May 1970) is a Dutch former professional footballer and current manager. A former defender, De Boer spent most of his playing career with Ajax, winning five Eredivisie titles, two KNVB Cups, three Super Cups, o ...

's third choice behind Kenneth Vermeer and Jasper Cillessen, as the season opened with Ajax winning the Dutch Super Cup (

Johan Cruijff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national football ...

). Van der Hart made his professional debut on 9 August 2013 in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

keeping for

, where he is still eligible to play, having made less than 15 appearances for Ajax first team in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

. The match against

Oss OSS or Oss may refer to: Places * Oss, a city and municipality in the Netherlands * Osh Airport, IATA code OSS People with the name * Oss (surname), a surname Arts and entertainment * ''O.S.S.'' (film), a 1946 World War II spy film about ...

in which he played the full 90 minutes ended in a 2–0 loss for the Amsterdammers, in what would be only Jong Ajax second match ever in professional football, with the team having moved up from the

Beloften Eredivisie The Beloften Eredivisie (; ''"Promised Honor Division"'') was the highest football league for reserve teams in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). The league was founded in 1992 as ''Reserve Teams Eredivisie'' ...

before the start of the season.

Go Ahead Eagles (loan)

On 9 June 2014, it was announced that Van der Hart would serve a season-long loan spell with Go Ahead Eagles in

Deventer Deventer (; Sallaans dialect, Sallands: ) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Salland historical region of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel, ...

, joining the likes of Nick de Bondt and Sven Nieuwpoort who had transferred to the club from Ajax during the same transfer window as well.

PEC Zwolle

On 14 August 2015, it was announced that Van der Hart had been sold to

side

Zwolle Zwolle () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It is the Capital city, capital of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Overijssel ...

. He signed a one-year deal with the club, an extension option included.

Lech Poznań

On 21 May 2019, Van der Hart signed a three-year contract with Polish side

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

. He made his debut on 20 July 2019 against defending champions

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish professional football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2025–26, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. Histo ...

Emmen

On 24 August 2022, Van der Hart joined Emmen on a one-year contract.

Heerenveen

On 24 August 2023, Van der Hart signed a two-year contract with

International career

Van der Hart represented Netherlands U-18 and Netherlands U-19. On 11 November 2011, he made his debut for Netherlands U-18 in a friendly encounter against Romania U-18. On 7 September 2012, he made his debut for the under-19 team in a friendly match against Greece U-19. He was selected by head coach Wim van Zwam to participate in the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

in Lithuania. He played in all the group matches, of which one was won, and two were lost, failing to advance past the group stage. On 2 August 2013, head coach of the Netherlands U-21 team Albert Stuivenberg selected Van der Hart for the 32-man provisional squad, ahead of the

2013 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship 2013 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, or simply the 2013 Euro Under-21, was the 19th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Israel from 5–18 June 2013. The Is ...

. On 9 August 2013, however, it was announced that Van der Hart had not made the final 22-man squad selection for the tournament.

Personal life

Van der Hart is the grandson of former

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

central defender

Cor van der Hart Cor van der Hart (25 January 1928 – 12 December 2006) was a Dutch footballer. He is known as one of the best defenders of the Netherlands national team in history, who was physically strong, who read the game very well and who had a quality ...

Career statistics

Honours

Ajax Youth * Nike Eredivisie: 2011–12 * NextGen Series runner-up: 2011–12 Ajax *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, 2013–14 *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

Lech Poznań *

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

: 2021–22 Individual * AFC Ajax Talent of the Future: 2012

References

External links

* *
Ajax Inside Profile
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hart, Mickey van der 1994 births Footballers from Amstelveen Living people Men's association football goalkeepers Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players Go Ahead Eagles players PEC Zwolle players Lech Poznań players FC Emmen players SC Heerenveen players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Ekstraklasa players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Poland 21st-century Dutch sportsmen